The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer, also known as the Imperial I-class Destroyer or the Imperator-class Star Destroyer, was an iconic class of warships designed by Lira Wessex and built by Kuat Drive Yards. The Imperial-class Star Destroyers, along with Imperial Stormtroopers, represented the might of the Imperial Military throughout the galaxy during the reign of the Galactic Empire.

The Imperator-class was originally used by the Republic Navy toward the end of the Clone Wars, and served alongside the Tector-class in a few task forces during the conflict. It was at the time one of the largest warship classes in the Republic Navy. It later became a mainstay of the Imperial Navy and was also fielded to a lesser degree by the Empire's successor-states.

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The Imperial I-class belonged to the Star Destroyer family of warship, exemplified by its dagger/arrowhead design. A single Imperial-class vessel cost the Empire more than twenty times the cost of a EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate, which was the equivalent of several star systems' annual economic output.

The Imperial-class was produced in large numbers and was the premier warship class of the Galactic Empire. All known variants were 1,600 meters long (one mile). Compared to most common frigates and downscaled cruisers known from the days of the Old Republic, the Imperial-class was a huge warship, but in the Imperial Navy, it was one of the Empire's mid-sized mainline warships, like its predecessor had been for the Republic.

According to officially available statistics, Imperial-class Star Destroyers had at least 37,000 officers and crew. Counting the stormtrooper complement (one division or legion, 9,700 men) would total 46,700. This would include a stormtrooper detachment, starfighter pilots, and support craft pilots. Differing from many other Imperial vessels, recreational facilities provided entertainment for off-duty personnel and "guest rooms' could accommodate Imperial VIPs.

The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer possessed a main battery of six heavy turbolasers and two heavy ion cannons, arranged in four dual mounts flanking the ship's tower structure.

Like with several other Star Destroyer classes, the designers did not take advantage of their wedge shape to give the heavy cannons the ability to focus on targets in the forward firing arc that were level with the ship. This could have been accomplished either by super-elevating the aft turrets, or merely by spacing the turrets apart over a longer distance of the ship's length. In any case, this Star Destroyer class could bring all its heavy guns to bear by dipping its bow downward.

Numerous smaller and medium guns were mounted around the ship to ward off attacks against lesser ships not capable of being targeted by the main battery. They varied in size; some were designed as point-defense cannon to destroy incoming missiles and starfighters while others engaged lesser capital ships. Some ships, such as Emancipator, were refitted with proton torpedo launchers. Three triple-gun turrets were mounted on the ridge of the ship, just forward of the lowest, forward-most terrace of the dorsal superstructure.

Mounted just beyond the forward tip of the attack hangar (see fighter complement), were two large ventral turbolasers, which sat near the corners of the massive hangar.

Imperial-class Star Destroyers typically carried a standard Imperial wing of 6 TIE squadrons, for a total of 72 starfighters.

The standard wing included four TIE Fighter squadrons (one squadron often referred to be a reconnaissance squadron of TIE/rc starfighters), one squadron of TIE Interceptors, one squadron of TIE Bombers (lower priority ships had to make do with TIE/gt starfighter-bombers). Often one or two flights in a fighter squadron were TIE/fc starfighters. Sometimes one of the fighter squadrons was used for training purposes. By the Battle of Endor, one of these fighter squadrons had been phased out in favor of a second squadron of TIE Interceptors.

The attack hangar was located on the underside on the ship and was guarded by a set of armored doors. TIE fighter service and refueling bays, and TIE launch hangars surrounded the main hangar. TIEs were launched from cycling racks and pilots boarded from overhead gantries and were released into space as they disengaged from the front position in the racks.

Returning fighters landed in separate hangars and then were guided by small tractor beams into receiver-carriers. The receivers carried the TIE to a debarkation station where the pilot would exit. Once moved through the transfer tunnels to a launch hangar, the fighter could be serviced and refueled in a separate bay. In the hangar, the TIEs were cycled through a launch rack and ready for the next launch. The small forward hangar was for shuttle craft carrying high-ranking officials. The forward hangar was also used as a back-up to the main hangar.

These ships carried 9,700 troops, as well as massive war vehicles such as AT-AT and AT-ST walkers. AT-AT barges and other landing craft were used to deliver ground assault forces to a planet's surface. Although larger landing craft could only be carried on board bigger Imperial vessels, the Imperial-class could transfer a large number of heavy walkers to smaller transport ships via a detachable rail system.

The Star Destroyer could use its guns and TIE starfighters to support any surface action. If a planet required a lasting presence, a Star Destroyer could quickly deploy a prefabricated garrison base. Like most other Star Destroyer models, the Imperial-class was capable of entering atmospheres and supporting ground operations directly.

There were entire planets that, throughout their history, did not expend as much power as an Imperial-class ship did in one hyperspace jump. The hyperspace generator was located along the ship's ventral surface. A massive solar ionization reactor bulged from the ventral spine, annihilating hypermatter as fuel to power the ship. Auxiliary reactors flanked the main reactor and the three reactors were connected to the three main engines. In addition, the backup engines were connected to additional reactors as well.

Catastrophic release braces were located underneath the ventral reactor bulge, in case of emergencies where the core of the main reactor had to be ejected from the ship.

For sublight propulsion, the Imperial-class relied on an array of three primary Destroyer-I ion engines produced by KDY specifically for the vessels. For emergency situations requiring additional thrust, the Imperial-class could use its four Gemon-4 ion engines. The engines were capable of accelerating the ship with a force of several thousand g.

The command bridge tower of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer was massive, and the command bridge followed a design similar to that of many other KDY warship classes, such as the Venator-class, the Executor-class designs. The sensor array on top of the Mk. I's tower had support beams running diagonally across it. These would later be substituted for vertical ones during a minor refit, which made the array look similar to the one on Mk. II vessels. The two globes atop the bridge tower served two purposes: aiding both in hyperspace communication and deflector shield generation. The proximity of the deflector shield generators made the bridge tower one of the most protected parts of the Star Destroyer.

The Imperator-class was designed as a massive, powerful, mid-sized warship, and appeared in limited numbers during the Clone Wars, where it served in several Republic task forces. As the war neared its end in 19 BBY, the production lines of new Imperator-class and Tector-class destroyers expanded, while the lines for the older, lighter Venator-class slowed down.

The first vessel was named the Executrix, while the second was the Exactor, which later served as the first personal flagship of the Imperial enforcer Darth Vader. There was also an Imperator among the Mk.I models, sharing the class name. Following the Great Jedi Purge and the establishment of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, the Imperator model was renamed Imperial-class and production of the class was increased even further and refined. Despite the name change, some Imperial documents continued to use the original name to identify the class.

Imperial-class Star Destroyers had a distinguished career in the Imperial Starfleet, where they symbolized the Empire's military might (for better or worse). Eventually, these Star Destroyers rendered older vessels, like the Venator-class, obsolete.

Capable of laying waste to entire worlds (provided those worlds did not have planetary shields), the Imperial-class became infamous as the prime enforcer of Imperial rule, and even served as a small, peacekeeping battleship. According to official records, over 25,000 were eventually produced. Many were destroyed in the fratricidal warfare that consumed the Empire after the death of Emperor Palpatine at Endor in 4 ABY, while others defected or were captured over the years.

Within sector-level fleets, the ISD served a central battleship role, being the flagship of the unit known as the "Battle Squadron." A Sector Group was responsible for patrolling a given sector and was composed of 24 Star Destroyers. It was also observed to operate more or less independently and often far from support ships and facilities. Through many operations, the ISD functioned as a destroyer, a capital ship fast enough to chase down blockade runners and protect fleets. As an escort, it also supported Imperial Star Cruisers and Star Dreadnoughts in fleet combat.

When he assaulted Hoth, Darth Vader commanded the Star Dreadnought Executor and brought along a flotilla of Imperial-class vessels from Death Squadron to assault the planet. The Rebellion's heavy ion cannon, powered by the reactor of a Star Battlecruiser, easily overwhelmed individual Star Destroyer shields and rapidly disabled ships in orbit.

In the New Republic era, Imperial-class Star Destroyers continued in the escort role for larger vessels in campaigns like Operation Shadow Hand in 10 ABY. The Super Star Destroyer Allegiance led a task force of Imperial-class ships and World Devastators during the First Battle of Mon Calamari. This was one of many fleets that struck out from the Core as part of the operation, which was aimed at taking back most of the Galactic Empire's former territories. Operation Shadow Hand saw a relatively heavy use of different types of Super Star Destroyers supported by Star Destroyers.

However, due to lack of logistics, not all Imperial splinter factions made use of Super Star Destroyers. For instance, Grand Admiral Thrawn massed a sizable force in 9 ABY, but could not obtain any larger warships. In those instances, Star Destroyers like the Imperial-class acted as main command ships of a navy.

Special thanks to Wookieepedia for the overall description of the vessel. Please note that the technical commentary and RPG stats do not match up one-hundred percent. But, after all, this is supposed to be a fun game. Therefore, the RPG stats listed are considered accurate.